Day Twenty-Four/Transcript
Session Start (Wackd:#tvtropesdoctorwho): Sun Jul 27 13:15:32 2014 -0400 14:48 <@Wackd> Hey T. 14:50 hi 15:00 hi_ 15:00 Goddammit. 15:11 <@Wackd> Hey Bocaj! 15:11 Hello 15:14 <@Wackd> I was thinking maybe Zinnia's origin could be on a space station not originating with her own people, so we could do a prequel story without having to worry about having Alkonist culture entirely worked out. 15:16 That makes sense 15:23 Is that everyone we're expecting today? 15:23 <@Wackd> No, actually. Mukora and unnoun should be here. 15:23 Wait, I think Mukora signaled intent. 15:23 <@Wackd> He did! 15:29 <@Wackd> I've messaged them. I'm gonna say give them until 4. 15:32 Terrific. 15:32 <@Wackd> If not we start without them. 15:33 Oh god this schlock. 15:34 <@Wackd> ???? 15:34 BBC America has been advertising this "documentary" of a war against aliens that happened before WWI. 15:34 "The Great Martian War" 15:34 <@Wackd> That...actually sounds interesting. 15:35 All of the footage is either black-and-white with CGI inserted for the Martian tripods, or purposefully grainy interview footage. 15:36 <@Wackd> Not seeing a downside there, frankly. 15:36 It comes across as trying too hard to me. 15:37 <@Wackd> I'd say making footage supposedly shot pre-WWI black and white is, like, a bare minimum of effort. 15:37 Reminds me of my scheming to try to redo Orson Welles's take on War of the Worlds, but on television, and accounting for modern broadcasting rules. 15:38 Well, it's like they took old black-and-white war footage, and inserted CGI tripods. 15:38 That's the kind of wild contrast that it is. 15:38 <@Wackd> Ah, so it's poorly integrated into the footage? 15:38 Oh, Conspicuous CG? 15:39 That's what it feels like somewhat. 15:40 (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgZU6YxJ7b4)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgZU6YxJ7b4 A trailer for it from the UK's History Channel. 15:41 Admittedly, this one makes it look less conspicuous. 15:41 I need to be leaving, and my mobile internet is continuing to fail at IRC. 15:41 So I'm led to conclude that BBC America just sucks at editing. 15:41 <@Wackd> Maybe BBCA was using test footage or something? 15:41 <@Wackd> Right. See you in a bit, T. 15:42 Oh no. 15:42 (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I16_8l0yS-g)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I16_8l0yS-g 15:42 There we go. 15:43 that plane exterior 15:43 <@Wackd> Yay! TParadox has to get to work. And then we're starting at about 4. 15:43 Okey-dokey. 15:44 That scene is still fucking stupid. 15:46 <@Wackd> I just can't get over how the shark attack is edited. 15:46 <@Wackd> SSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH 15:46 <@Wackd> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH 15:46 <@Wackd> SSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH 15:46 <@Wackd> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH 15:46 <@Wackd> SSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH 15:47 <@Wackd> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH 16:01 <@Wackd> Right, so we're starting as soon as TParadox gets back. 16:06 *flips through channels* 16:06 "Scooby Doo and the Wrestlemania Mystery" 16:06 <@Wackd> Right then. 16:06 NOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPE 16:06 <@Wackd> Now that everyone's here. 16:06 <@Wackd> (Also nom that thing came out last year.) 16:07 (It's on, and I refuse to watch it.) 16:08 <@Wackd> Anyway, we're doing a Zinnia prequel story, set on a space station that is not run by Alkonists for the sake of simplicity, so you can play pretty much whatever you want. If you have no ideas, reuse your character from the UNIT thing, since we are never continuing that. Ever. 16:09 Hooray! 16:09 Aligheri Graves returns! 16:09 <@Wackd> If someone wants to volunteer to play the Doctor, it'd be appreciated, but I'll do it if no one else wants to. 16:09 Oh. I probably should have come up with a new character... 16:10 Hmm who to play as 16:10 <@Wackd> Anyone wanna take the Doctor off my hands? Anyone? 16:12 It'd either have to be Mukora or TParadox, unless they wanna play someone else. 16:14 Mm, I'm not exactly confident enough for that. 16:15 It'd still be the Doctor we'd been working with, right? 16:15 <@Wackd> The Doctor could've regenerated sometime between now and "Hello, Holo", why not. 16:16 So basically it could be a different incarnation of the Doctor if you so felt like it. 16:16 <@Wackd> Yep. 16:18 I've been planning on playing Curt Brusquely, holistic investigator. 16:19 <@Wackd> Are you seriously just gonna play thinly-veiled rip-offs any time you don't get to be Hal? 16:20 I don't get it. 16:20 Dirk Gently 16:20 <@Wackd> Holistic Detective. 16:20 Still don't get it. 16:21 <@Wackd> Douglas Adams character from a couple of novels. 16:21 Ah. 16:21 Okay. 16:22 Quick setup. 16:22 Eh.... if you guys really want me to be the Doctor, I can try. But I'm not feeling it. 16:22 In other news the weather here in Michigan got weird. Rain without rainclouds. 16:23 You don't have to be. 16:23 <@Wackd> Frankly, I'd like TParadox to be the Doctor if the only other option is not!Dirk Gently. 16:26 Dammit. 16:27 Work's keeping me pretty busy at the moment. 16:27 Maybe just sit this one out, then? 16:31 I could disappear briefly after stepping out of the Tardis, but that's not really "the Doctor sent it all to hell" 16:32 <@Wackd> I'll play the Doctor. It's fine. 16:32 <@Wackd> If you're gonna play though I'd prefer you don't play an expy. 16:41 <@Wackd> ...are you thinking on that, or are you busy with work, or what? 16:41 *tick tock* 16:45 Double-expy, as Dirk is kind of slotted into a Fourth Doctor-shaped hole. 16:46 Goes the clock, will you play the Doctor? 16:46 <@Wackd> That response took fifteen minutes. 16:47 <@Wackd> And frankly "double-expy" was not really the response I was hoping for. 16:47 I could try a Doctor played by Alexander Siddig (at about the age he is now) doing a chessmaster, 16:47 But I am pretty busy. 16:48 <@Wackd> That sounds good, yeah. 16:49 Well, i was busy then. I'm not now, but still could be at any moment. 16:50 <@Wackd> I'll chance it. 16:50 Also I don't really know what Siddig has done recently aside from the presumable conventions, I just wanted a South Asian Doctor. 16:51 <@Wackd> I'm not aware of what he's done besides piss me off in DS9, so if you've got knowledge of him beyond that you're a step ahead of me. 16:52 I don't, I'm just assuming he does conventions. 16:52 <@Wackd> Ah. 16:53 <@Wackd> Oh and hey, this campaign takes place on a space station! Convienient! 16:54 <@Wackd> So, um, Mukora, who're you playing? 16:54 Frontier meddling! 16:56 I have a character, but just one thing first: We are all travelling with the Doctor, yeah? 16:56 Graves isn't. He's just been stationed there. 16:56 <@Wackd> No, you're working on the station. 16:56 <@Wackd> Doctor's going companionless for this one. 16:57 Ah. Interesting. 16:58 Oh, okay. That's good for me, then. I'm playing Genie Harriman. She's a smuggler (if that works) and is pretty self-obsessed. 16:58 Also human. Because I'm lame. 16:59 <@Wackd> Alright. 16:59 <@Wackd> So, I think we're all ready for the intro bit, yeah? 16:59 A companion was recently lost/left behind/the doctor was called home/he popped out alone between adventures and he is secretly self-loathing/hungry/bored/giggly/indifferent about it. The companion he lost/left behind/is on the way back to I swear was a good friend/a love interest/the only one that could get the milk tap to work/casual roomie. 17:00 Also it's good to get out away from the time zombies frequently. 17:00 <@Wackd> Um...right then. 17:05 <@Wackd> It's a relatively quiet day on Tellurian Observation Station 2686 as it silently orbits the planet Trog, which like most planets has a fairly diverse range of ecosystems because why wouldn't it. ... 17:05 <@Wackd> There's no one scheduled to dock there today, which is why there's some confusion surrounding what appears to be an incoming ship, which a moment ago was approaching the station but now appears content to remain about four feet away and hover ominously. 17:06 <@Wackd> Transmitter contact has been attempted but no messages have been responded to. 17:07 <@Wackd> (done) 17:09 (The ship is a thing to investigate, not the TARDIS, right?) 17:09 <@Wackd> (It's not the TARDIS, no.) 17:12 Young birdoform Alkonist Zinnia tried to ignore the ominous ship and focus on her duties on the station. She tried to focus on the datastream that the station's sensors were putting out but her attention kept drifting. With a sign of resignation she switched her station over to external cameras and looked at the ship. 17:13 This fuss served to completely distract everyone from the materialization of an anachronism ostensibly resembling an artifact from an unremarkably remarkable planet's regional constabulary, not that anyone tended to notice it anyway. 17:14 "Don't see any recognizable markings," she muttered to herself. "Might be exciting if it were an undiscovered alien species. 'oh yeah I was there when we first broke bread/supped soup/whatever with the uh Chumblies. First contact, yup. I was there for that.'" 17:14 Graves stood outside the entrance to the docking bay, noting the irregularity. He sighed to himself. "Another day's gonna go completely south." 17:15 <@Wackd> The ship was orb-shaped, with a bright yellow surface and pulsating orange...rivers? Impossible as it seemed, there was molten liquid running through veins across the surface of the ship, but that was scarcely noticeable. ... 17:15 <@Wackd> See, the first thing people were liable to notice about the ship was the fact that it appeared to be ON FIRE, despite the vacuum of space. 17:15 The occupant of this craft was decidedly not constabulary, but currently in a disposition to check the scanner and note the surroundings before exiting, which was for him, also remarkably unremarkable. 17:16 <@Wackd> The TARDIS had managed to materialize right beside Zinnia's workstation. 17:19 "Waaa!" Zinnia scrabbled out of her chair, flailing in alarm. She looked around, wondering if this was some kind of prank. Some kind of weird prank. There were a lot of species on the station. Some of them might have inscrutable senses of humor. 17:19 Peering through the nearest viewport at the incoming ship, Graves calmly reached for the nearest communication device and turned it on. 17:19 "Not to put a damper on anyone's day here, but this is Officer Graves reporting an emergency at my station." 17:20 <@Wackd> "--I still say we should try to put it out. It's clearly fire, whoever's inside might be in danger," said one officer. "Or it could be part of their atmosphere, something they need to survive. Trying to 'save' them could be interpreted as a hosti--Graves? What're you doing on this channel?" 17:21 "The ship that looks like it's on fire? It's pulling in where I'm at." 17:21 A tall, dark-skinned human woman made her way through the crowd of people fascinated by the flaming ship. Occassionally, she would "accidentally" bump into someone. Later they would find one or two things in their pockets mysteriously missing.. 17:22 Zinnia walked around the blue box looking at it from multiple angles. There seemed to be a door. "Hello?" 17:23 <@Wackd> The second voice was the ship's commanding officer, Robert Bromly, and he didn't sound happy. "Might want to double-check that, Graves, my screen's showing it's maintaining its distance." A brief silence, and then--"Dammit, my monitor froze. You're right. We're still determining how to handle this, hold your panic for now." 17:23 "Holding, sir." 17:24 <@Wackd> "Good then. Now get off this channel, return to duty. Over." 17:25 He closed the channel and started backing away from the door. Best to maintain a safe distance. Probably 30 feet would do. 50? Maybe too much? He couldn't be bothered to care. 17:26 There was no response. The thing didn't look big enough for anyone to hide comfortably. Zinnia experimentally tugged at the doors. 17:26 The door opened. "Ah. Hello, I'm the Doctor and -what is that on your monitor?" 17:26 (strike my last line) 17:27 "Oh, uh hello. Its a- how'd you get here anyway?" 17:28 Graves continued watching the door. He wasn't sure whether or not it was him, but he felt as if it was getting hotter. 17:28 "In my box. I thought that was obvious. Is that anaerobic combustion going on outside? 17:28 " 17:28 "I swear I wasn't supposed to be here today..." 17:30 <@Wackd> Suddenly, the viewport Graves had been using gave off a brief flash of light, as did every window in the station. Monitors went a bit wibbly. And a light mist began to waft through the vent. Graves would find the hot feeling disappating. The ship was still out there, but once again stationary. If it had caused this, there was no way to tell from its surface. 17:30 Zinnia frowned at the answer but decided not to press. "Yes, that spaceship does appear to be on fire in space." 17:30 "Well what are you people doing setting the vacuum on fire for?" 17:31 She saw the monitor go wibble and messed with the settings to try to stabilize it. "I... don't think we did? This is just an observation station. If there are any experiments in airless combustion, I haven't heard of them." 17:32 "That- whatever it is, it showed up a short while ago and has just been hanging around outside. Where have you been that you don't know? Its been kind of a popular topic." 17:33 <@Wackd> The monitor returned to normal with minimal fuss. 17:33 "Inspecting. Things. That needed inspecting." 17:35 "So if you didn't know about the firesphere, what were you inspecting here?" 17:36 <@Wackd> "Attention on all frequencies! The flaming ship has been deemed a matter of concern only for the highest-ranked officers aboard," the intercom boomed. The voice was that of Terrance Russel, second-in-command. "All other officers are ordered to return to their posts and preform other duties. ... 17:36 <@Wackd> And civilians aboard, please stop inquiries for the time being. We promise you will all be informed in due time. Over." 17:38 "I was very busy with the things on my list that preceded 'flaming nothingness', but now I'm giving it my full attention." 17:39 "Oh terrific... I'm expected to just stand here and watch the door with the big flaming spaceball." 17:41 <@Wackd> "Not necessarily," said a voice from behind him. It was a Silurian woman, looking a bit greener than usual. A station namebadge identified her as Stoda. "Hi there. I'm your relief officer. There was a bit of last-minute rescheduling with the lunch breaks, you're free to go for the time being." 17:42 Genie grumbled as the crowd watching the flaming space-orb out the windows dissipated. "Well, now what am I going to do?" She sighed and made her way back to where she had parked her ship. 17:43 <@Wackd> A tall, pale man wearing a very expensive suit wandered by her. He looked a bit ill, and had left the flaps of his jacket pockets open. Something in them glittered. 17:43 Graves let out a sigh of relief. "I am relieved. I'll be in touch if needed." 17:43 <@Wackd> "Yeah, be sure to keep your com on," she said, and reached out to shake his hand. "By the way, I don't think we've met. You new around here?" 17:44 And with that he left to get lunch. 17:44 (Oh whoops.) 17:44 (ignore that.) 17:44 "Is there anything I can help you with then?" 17:45 "Sort of." He shook Stoda's hand. "UNIT somehow thought I'd be a perfect fit to come here." 17:45 She let her eyes follow the man. And then the rest of her, as well. Trailing behind him, she watched to see how aware he was of his surroundings. 17:46 <@Wackd> "Ah. I know the feeling. My government sent me here as a sort of liaison, but I'm not much of a people-person, so..." She grasped his hand firmly with both hands, and Graves would begin to feel as though he'd stuck his finger in an electric socket, though his body appeared perfectly calm. 17:47 "Graves. Energetic, I take it?" 17:47 <@Wackd> The rich man, meanwhile, gave her little notice, instead pulling what seemed to be a neverending supply of hankies out of his pocket for an eternally stuffy nose. His snot appeared almost...florescent. 17:48 <@Wackd> "You have no idea," she said. The feeling intensified, and became accompanied by an intense heat, though his body refused to sweat or shake in accordance to the damage his innards were being done. 17:50 "Okay," he politely broke off the handshake and a slight strain in his voice made itself known. "Think I'm going to have that lunch I missed. Take care, er.... Stoda." 17:50 <@Wackd> "Hang on a sec," she said, grabbing him by the shoulders. "What's wrong? Something I said?" The feeling returned in full force, and Grave's body would begin to weaken. 17:51 "Nnnngh, please stop thaaaaaat." 17:52 Genie gagged a bit in the back of her throat at the sight, but continued following. Once she got close enough to the man, she crouched down and reached for a pocket that wasn't full of hankies. 17:52 <@Wackd> "Stop what? You alright? I can accompany you to the med-office, if you want." Her grip got firmer, and though Grave's vision was going blurry he could swear her face was beginning to shift. 17:53 "Let... me... go... please..." 17:53 <@Wackd> Her attempt at pickpocketing was immediately met by a firm grasp on her wrist, far firmer than a man of his age and figure should be able to manage. She'd begin to feel an electrical current pulse through her. "I'm sorry, can I help you?" the man asked. 17:54 Graves' left hand drifted down to his personal communicator. Specifically, the emergency button on its back. Which he pressed. 17:55 The Doctor waved a sonic device over Zinnia's terminal, which he seemed to expect to do something. "And I expect you're curious about it too, so let's find out. What's your name by the way? You're an Alkonist, correct?" He seemed to only just then notice she had a non-humanoid figure. 17:56 <@Wackd> Graves' legs would begin to give out as his vision faded, every muscle, every sense being overwhelmed by the heat and the energy. If he didn't break away soon... The com burst to life. "This is security officer Karne, please state the nature of your emergancy. If you cannot speak please press the button again." 17:56 He pressed it again, struggling to keep breathing. 17:57 <@Wackd> The sonic would relay to the Doctor that the footage on the monitor was not in fact coming from the stations' external monitors but was a pre-recorded feed. 17:58 <@Wackd> Stoda let out a gasp and allowed Graves to fall to the floor as a couple of security officers arrived. "I don't know what happened, he started babbling about me touching him and then passed out. I think he needs medical attention." One of the security officers called for a stretcher. Slowly, Graves would begin to feel normal again. 17:58 "Fairly rabidly, yes. And Alkonist, yes." 17:58 Genie beamed a pure white smile at the man. "No, sir just... uh... trying to give you a helping hand. I understand why you would think I was, y'know..." she felt the false smile begin to falter as she waited for the man to release his hold. 17:59 <@Wackd> "Nice try. I think you and I need to take a trip to the security office." The electrical impulses got stronger, and Genie would begin to feel an immense heat. 18:00 As he started being able to breathe easier, Graves tried to utter a word. 18:01 "Eee... eee... mer... gency..." 18:01 <@Wackd> "We're aware, officer Graves. We're taking you to medical as soon as the stretcher gets here. Please don't try to stand." 18:01 Genie tried to break the man's grip "Oy! What do you think you're doing? I told you, I wasn't doing nothing!" Why are you so... warm and tingly..." 18:02 "S... Ssstoo... daaa..." 18:02 "I think I... need a doctor..." 18:03 <@Wackd> "Yes, she told us what happened. Don't worry, we'll take good care of you." Two officers arrived with a stretcher, and the security personal carefully rolled it onto him before he got carried off. 18:04 <@Wackd> He smirked. "You might, yes. But first, security. Please, come along." He stifled another sneeze. 18:05 "No... she... did it..." With that, he felt himself start to become weary from recovery. 18:05 <@Wackd> "Certainly we're going to look into the possibility," said the security officer walking by him, "but with no weapons it's doubtful." 18:07 Genie fought the urge to slip into unconsciousness and kept trying to pry the man's fingers apart, despite being unable to feel her own. 18:08 <@Wackd> Each touch just made the burning sensation that much stronger, and the man began to drag her away, towards security. "Not getting away that...ah...that...no...god...tha--" And with that the man sneezed so hard he became a pile of green goop and exploded in two different directions. 18:09 "She touched... it burned... Uuuuugh..." 18:09 Graves tried reaching up with his left hand, slowly. 18:10 <@Wackd> "Unlikely. A Silurian, of all species, could never produce the kind of heat necessary to do this to anyone. Try to rest, officer. Leave the medicine to the professionals." 18:11 "You know what I'm fond of? Answers that lead to more questions. This is a recording. Somebody is hiding what's really happening. Let's see if we can get the live feed back." 18:12 Genie stopped on the spot, and stared, wide-eyed, forward. She felt the urge to scream at the top of her lungs, but instead decided to simply try to rub the sweat off of her body. At least it was only the FIRST time a man had exploded green goop all over her. 18:13 "So, wait, there's an unidentified impossible spacecraft outside but we've just been watching a recording?" Zinnia shook her head. "So someone wanted the station to know there was a spacecraft but not know what it was doing?" 18:15 "Or there was a spaceship and somebody's covering up what they did to it. Now, what would be so secret that letting us see it continue to burn would be preferable?" More sonic waving. 18:15 <@Wackd> A harsh, tinny voice emanated from one of the blobs as they squirmed about and attempted to reconstitute. "I told them...I needed maturity leave...why didn't they...why didn't they listen...you...don't go anywhere...need to be dealt with..." 18:17 <@Wackd> The screen flickered and flashed for a moment, and the ship loomed, larger than life, on the verge of hitting the camera that was relaying the footage. The ship was not only right on top of them, but far, FAR, larger than anticipated. 18:17 Genie started to regain some of her senses, and examined the gooey remains of the man, all over the walls and floors. "So... uh... yeah... I'll be going now." She moved to walk towards the nearest medical clinic, just in case. 18:19 (Still burning? Still not actually docked?) 18:19 <@Wackd> (Yes and yes.) 18:19 <@Wackd> At that moment, a figure appeared behind the Doctor and Zinnia, an Alpha Centari. "Officer Zinnia! There has been a schedule reshuffling, I am here to relieve you." It turned its bulbous head towards the Doctor. "You are not on the crew roster! Who're you?" 18:21 <@Wackd> The green goop began to ooze back towards Genie, suddenly beginning to take on shape, resembling an especially round jellyfish. "No...can't leave...must...come back..." 18:21 "I'm the Doctor, I'm inspecting important things, and did you know that ship is bigger than they're letting on?" 18:22 <@Wackd> "Oh my!" it said, looking at the screen. "I'm sure the senior officers have everything under control. They did tell us not to worry about it." 18:22 "They're using... perspective tricks? How do you mean bigger? Hard to judge scale in space." 18:23 She rolled her eyes and kept walking, fanning herself with a few bills of ambiguous unidentified money. "Sorry, Goopy McShockfingers, I don't have time." 18:24 <@Wackd> "I think you do." The two new jellyfish hovered in front of her face and behind her head, both extending all their tentacles towards her scalp. 18:24 "Bigger, closer, current sensor data would be helpful. But hang on, didn't catch why there was a schedule change?" 18:25 <@Wackd> "Not a schedule change. Misprint, or somesuch. Anyway I've been instructed to relieve you. Both of you. Please, come along." It extended a couple of arms towards each of them. 18:26 "Wait, how were you instructed to relieve him when you didn't even know who he was?" 18:28 Subconsciously, Zinnia edged away. 18:29 <@Wackd> "Anyone working at this station has been relieved of duty. I'm sure the commanding officers know who he is." It moved ever closer towards them, nubby little arms still outstretched. 18:32 "Okay, the workplace isn't usually this weird or grabby," Zinnia said to the Doctor. "This is unusual." 18:33 "Gah!" Genie ducked under the jellyfishes' grasp and tried to dart away. 18:33 <@Wackd> The Alpha Centari's arms began to extend towards her--literally extend, as they lengthened far beyond what they should be able to do. 18:33 <@Wackd> The jellyfish, meanwhile, disappeared into a nearby vent, deciding not to pursue. 18:36 (OH! Is that what this is? Gross.) 18:37 <@Wackd> (What? Jellyfish?) 18:37 Genie threw the largest object she could find in her pockets- a small elephant statuette- at the thing and kept running 18:38 <@Wackd> It missed entirely, as the jellyfish were no longer following her. 18:39 Zinnia recoiled from the Alpha Centari and put as much distance between her and it as she could. "What is wrong with you?" 18:39 (Whoops. I misread the bit about the Alpha Centauri as being directed at me.) 18:39 <@Wackd> (T? You alright?) 18:39 <@Wackd> (Yeah, no, sorry.) 18:40 <@Wackd> (If you haven't all gotten it by now, we're doing Rutans.) 18:41 (Wuzzat?) 18:41 (The jellyfish mortal enemies of the sontarans) 18:43 (Isn't everyone mortal enemies of the Sontarans?) 18:44 <@Wackd> (The Rutans are like, their number one enemies. They've been warring with them since forever.) 18:45 <@Wackd> (Anyway, I gotta go eat. Should be back in 20-30 minutes.) 18:45 The Doctor waved the sonic screwdriver defensively, which is not how most people use screwdrivers. Perhaps one day the assailant might fall apart like a cabinet assembled in reverse, but it served unlikely. 18:46 *seemed 19:12 <@Wackd> Indeed, waving the sonic about did nothing, and the Alpha Centauri grabbed Zinnia by what little she had in the way of shoulders. She'd begin to feel an electrical tingling sensation. 19:13 <@Wackd> (back) 19:14 She cried out in alarm. 19:17 <@Wackd> The tingling intesified, and she began to feel a great deal of heat. 19:19 "W-what are you doing to me?!" 19:20 <@Wackd> "Just trying to help you on your way," said the Alpha Centauri as it began to drag her away from her post. 19:26 "Hold on now, no need to be rough." The Doctor grabbed the Alpha Centauri's arm, pulling it off of her. 19:26 <@Wackd> He'd begin to feel the electric tingling as well, as well as the heat--possibly not as strongly, however, due to his unique physiology. 19:27 (I'm a bit busy with work now. Working hard to catch up on stuff I would have had done 20 minutes ago if I hadn't been busy serving customers.) 19:27 <@Wackd> (Ah.) 19:28 <@Wackd> (So...) 19:30 The Doctor gritted his teeth. "Urgh... You've got a bite to you, haven't you?" 19:31 <@Wackd> "I don't know what you're talking about." 19:39 Zinnia grabbed a thick bound wad of data readouts and hucked it at the Alpha Centauri. "Hands off!" 19:39 <@Wackd> Fortunately, it hit the Alpha Centari right in the eye, causing it to recoil and...kinda...melt a bit, oddly, but it quickly reconstituted itself. 19:40 <@Wackd> It began to extend its arms further, even longer than before, holding on tight to both the Doctor and Zinnia by the neck. 19:42 "If this is about goofing off instead of watching the data stream, I'll take a pay cut," Zinnia offered hopefully. 19:44 <@Wackd> Of course, as it held them, the electricity and the heat both returned. 19:47 <@Wackd> (nomuru2d? Mukora?) 19:49 (Graves is incapacitated right now, isn't he? XP) 19:50 <@Wackd> Graves would wake up in the med office on a bed, feeling quite a bit better now if not entirely recovered. 19:51 "Uuuuuuuuuugh... Where is she?" 19:52 <@Wackd> But for him, he would find the med office entirely empty. 19:53 Genie ran through the station's corridors, looking back over her shoulder for the strange jellyfish creature every few seconds. 19:54 <@Wackd> They were continuing not to follow her, though as she got closer to the center of the station she'd hear someone yell "hands off!" from a nearby office. This had somehow utterly failed to get anyone else's attention. 19:55 She attempted to find her way back to her ship and hightail it off of this useless station, but instead conveniently ended up at Zinnia's workstation. Seeing the... strange altercation going on, she attemped to sneak past. 19:56 <@Wackd> The Alpha Centari failed to take any notice of her. 19:56 Graves quickly got on his feet and turned on his communicator. "Emergency! Strange creature aboard! Don't come in physical contact! Danger!" 19:58 <@Wackd> "Graves, get off the com. You should be resting," came Commander Bromly's voice through the com. 19:59 "Forget that! The thing that got me is still here! Whatever it is, it was impersonating a Silurian!" He quickly looked around for his emergency sidearm. 20:00 <@Wackd> "Graves, nothing GOT you. You had a fever. Now calm down and get some sleep." 20:02 "Look, I was perfectly fine until I got touched by whatever that thing was! If I hadn't pushed the damn button, it would've killed me!" He left the room, still looking about. 20:04 <@Wackd> No one seems to be paying him much mind, nor is anyone milling about in the halls. Everyone looks distracted, busy. "Sometimes these things can hit rather quickly. We looked over Stoda, she's perfectly normal." 20:05 "Right. Going back to work now. Have my bearings back fully." 20:06 He switched off his communicator and muttered to himself as he looked about. 20:06 "Never even bothered touching her, did you all?" 20:07 <@Wackd> His com hummed to life again. "Affirmative, Graves. Please report to my office first, however. I'm putting you on special assignment. Over." 20:10 "Special assignment? Yeah right..." 20:11 Graves started rushing over to the security offices. 20:16 (Okay, finally had time to look over TARDIS wiki on the Rutans. Not very helpful on weaknesses.) 20:17 (I wanted to do something before I had to drive home, but I'm lost.) 20:17 <@Wackd> (They are, if you'd believe it, weak to HEAT. Which is insane and nonsensical.) 20:18 (Well, you can point out the woman attempting to inch her way out of the room and get her murdered.) 20:19 (Next you'll tell me Green Lanterns are vulnerable to yellow and wood) 20:19 <@Wackd> (Yes, but I WOULDN'T tell you that Green Lanterns fly around in wooden yellow ships and kill people with yellow wood.) 20:19 (I'm leaving, so I'll probably fall off the network soon.) 20:19 <@Wackd> (K. Do you wanna pick it back up when you get home?) 20:20 (Yeah, see you in a bit.) 20:20 <@Wackd> (K!) 20:36 (did I miss anything?) 20:38 <@Wackd> (Nope.) 20:41 "Sorry, not so much a bite as a... burn? Sting? Sting! Stinging arms.... ah! Normally I love a good jelly, but... sorry, being grabbed by the throat by an attacker isn't the best time to have a gobby past life flash before your eyes..." the Doctor scanned the room for anything that might be a strong heat source. 20:43 "Is this the time to be babbling?" Zinnia asked desperately. 20:43 <@Wackd> There isn't much--Zinnia's computer could be overheating, one supposes. Or one could hypothetically light some of her documents on fire. 20:48 Genie began to feel pangs of guilt as she neared the end of the room. She looked over to the strange man and bird. She sighed and started searching for something heavy to hit the creature with. 20:48 "Helps more than you'd think. But all this hot air won't be enough to melt the situation." 20:51 <@Wackd> There wasn't exactly just heavy things lying around the hallway. If she's in the room, however--well, there are plenty of weighty components to desktop computers. 20:54 (Was Zinnia in security or a lab?) 20:55 <@Wackd> (I assumed she was in a tiny office. She's supposed to be an intern, that's where I got shunted during my internships.) 20:59 (Oh, I was picturing it being like a pretty big room with multiple stations. My bad.) 21:03 (Is the office anywhere along the way? XD) 21:03 (Might be a lab with zinnia at a station doing grunt work) 21:03 <@Wackd> (Yep.) 21:05 <@Wackd> (To nom's thing.) 21:05 Along the way to security, Graves overhears some commotion in a nearby office. He quickly opens the door, weapon at the ready. 21:12 As Graves enters, Genie grabs a large computer component and smashes the Alpha Centauri over the head with it. 21:12 <@Wackd> The Alpha Centari falls forward, hitting the floor with a lout thunk. 21:14 "... Huh. That worked." 21:14 The Doctor collapses, gasping from the exertion of talking so lucidly while being throttled. 21:14 "Well then... Did that thing try to fry you, too?" 21:15 "We need to move. It'll re-form and be even badder." 21:16 "What is this thing? Something similar attacked me earlier..." 21:17 "Me too. I think they might be shapeshifters." 21:17 "A Rutan. Infinitely adaptable, highly invulnerable. Unless you've got a way to torch it, we should be running." 21:17 (That's a bit more ruthless action hero than Doctor.) 21:18 "Oh terrific. Me without a flamethrower," Graves said as he rolled his eyes. 21:20 Zinnia ran. 21:21 Graves ran as well. 21:21 The Doctor bundled them all toward the door, pointing the screwdriver at the TARDIS. It dematerialized, half a second out of sync with reality. 21:21 "So! You all new here, too?" 21:21 He then closed the door and appraised it for some way to lock or jam it. 21:23 Zinnia stopped running away and ran in place, unwilling to stop moving. "The hinges! There's a design flaw, if you jam a pen into them they stop working." 21:24 "Oh!" Genie pulled a pen out of one of her many jacket pockets and handed it to the Doctor "Here!" 21:24 The Doctor produced eight random objects from his pockets before being handed a pen. 21:25 "Blimey. And I thought I was bad about keeping junk." 21:25 Which he stuffed into the hinge before turning to flee with the rest. 21:27 "So, uh, the spaceship and now this. This is an invasion, right?" 21:29 "If they were here to sell cookies, they would have asked by now." 21:30 "They both seem to have a thing for fire, so my guess is yes. Why are they invading here, though? There's nothing on this station. I should know." 21:30 "I wouldn't be able to tell you guys, either. I just got here yesterday," 21:31 "They tried calling me in for a 'special assignment' after I woke back up from my attack. I think this place might be greatly infested." 21:37 (I need to go eat soonish.) 21:37 <@Wackd> (I think this is probably a good place to call it for now.) 21:37 (We can always pick this up another time. We've gotten into the meat of it now, so this is a good place to leave off.) 21:38 Okay, then. 21:38 <@Wackd> Night, folks! 21:39 Good times 21:39 Alrighty, then! Night! Session Close (#tvtropesdoctorwho): Sun Jul 27 21:58:34 2014 -0400